Anatomy, Artistic; Animals in art; Zoological illustration
In the dog, the shaft of the femur is slightly convex in front; but in
the cat it is straight. The borders of the shaft are slightly marked, so
that it is almost cylindrical. The _linea aspera_, less prominent than
in man, gains in width what it loses in elevation; it constitutes what
may almost be called a rough _surface_. This surface is narrower in its
middle portion than at its extremities, where it bifurcates to go
upwards to the two trochanters, and downwards to the two condyles. At
the superior extremity, the neck is short, the great trochanter reaching
almost to the level of the head of the femur; the digital _cavity_,
which is situated on the internal surface of the great trochanter, is
very deep. At its inferior extremity it projects strongly backward. The
trochlea is narrow; in the cat its two lips are equally prominent, while
in the dog the external is a little more elevated than the internal,
which on its part is a little thicker. The trochlea is still more
independent of the condyles than in the human femur; it is separated
from these latter by a slight constriction.
The knee-cap is long and narrow.
The tibia of the dog is slightly curved from before backward: it has the
form of an elongated S; this conformation is in great part due to the
very marked projection of the anterior tuberosity and of the superior
portion of the crest, which, a little below that tuberosity, turns
abruptly backwards, and thus describes a curve the concavity of which is
directed forward. The superior part of the external surface is very much
hollowed out.
The superior extremity is much thicker than the inferior one. It is not
only wide in the transverse direction, but is more especially extended
from before backwards; the prominence of the anterior tuberosity is the
cause of the elongation of this antero-posterior diameter. On the
posterior part of the external tuberosity is found a surface to which
the superior extremity of the fibula is applied.
The inferior extremity presents an articular surface, which is formed of
two lateral cavities, separated by a crest, which is directed obliquely
forwards and outwards. The internal part is prominent, and forms the
internal malleolus.
With regard to the fibula, it is united to the tibia by its extremities
and by the inferior half of its shaft. This latter is more expanded
below than in its upper part. The superior extremity is flattened from
without inwards. The inferior extremity projects beyond the articular
surface of the tibia, and forms the external malleolus, which, instead
of, as in man, descending further than the tibial malleolus, stops at
the same level, and even descends a little less than does the latter.
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